Rental Magica is one of the few animes that is really difficult for me to place. The plot line is a rolling snowball: it accumulates momentum throughout the series, and release some of them to gain more momentum. I have to say the plot planning and the execution is definitely one of the best I've seen lately. In my opinion, it's almost as good as Darker Than Black, who earned my best drama award for 2007.
However, Rental Magica did not achieve the level of greatness that Darker Than Black did. Why? I think it's due to its lack of final climax. Sure there is a "finale event", but it feels a bit "disconnected". This finale event did somewhat use the momentums that was gathered in previous episodes, but only barely. There just isn't enough build-up for me to get excited about it.
The bottom line is, it's a solid good anime, but it's a bit short from being a great anime.
Final Scoreboard (of 5):
Drama: 4.5 (No lack of it...)
Comedy: 3.5 (This is not its focus)
Action: 4 (Pretty good, but once a while, you do get some cheesy action)
Art/Animation: 4 (Good, clean style)
Sound/Music: 4 (Above average)
Character: 4.5 (Diverse, and deep characteristics)
Plot: 4.7 (Solid)
Ending: 3.75 (Acceptable, it'll be better if it had better final climax)
Re-watch value: 2 (You really don't need to watch more than once)
Overall: 4 ~ Very well built plot, but lack of final climax
Recommendation: Rental Magica lies in between my "Recommended" and "Highly Recommended" animes. Though it's not a "must watch" anime, I'd still recommend you place it somewhere high in your queue.
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